THIRTY one year old secondary school teacher Ben Featherstone openly admits that he ‘hates running’.

Despite that the 31 year old is lacing up his trainers to take on a month-long fundraising challenge for Sue Ryder Wheatfields Hospice.

Ben, who is also the club secretary and a player for Otley Town FC, has signed up for the hospice’s December Daily Dash. That means he will be attempting to walk, jog or run 5km on every day of the month to bring in money for a place that holds a special place in his heart.

Ben said: “Wheatfields means an awful lot to my family. They cared for my grandma last Christmas, they were brilliant and I wanted to do something to support them.

“I’m aware of the struggles that charities face this year but despite this Wheatfields have continued to provide superb care for all their patients and their families throughout so I felt like I could do little bit to help out.”

Despite his lack of enthusiasm for the activity this is not the first running challenge that Ben has taken on this year.

In the summer he completed the 2.6 Challenge for the hospice which saw him running 26 laps of the Otley FC pitches in blisteringly hot weather conditions.

He added: “I really hate running! The thought of having to run 5km every day throughout December actually scares me. It is my worst nightmare – especially as I will be doing the majority of my runs at 5am before setting off to work.

“Those that know me know that I am stubborn and won’t give up on a challenge but there are many who don’t believe I can complete it and have demanded a daily Strava (an exercise tracking online service) update.

“I’ll be delighted to get to the end of December having completed it. Especially as it is raising much needed funds and awareness for Wheatfields which is such an important place.”

You can track Ben’s progress and donate at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/fedders-daft-december-dash. There is still time to get involved - to find out more visit https://www.decemberdailydash.com.